The advent of molecular imaging approaches such as Positron Emission Tomography (PET) has enabled measurements of molecular and cellular mechanisms throughout the body in preclinical and clinical settings. Such measurements have widespread diagnostic utility and their use for evaluation of treatment responses and to assist drug development is expanding rapidly. Probes are traditionally synthesized by skilled radiochemists using specialized equipment and facilities that reduce their radiation exposure when working with large quantities of short-lived isotopes necessary to produce a final dose sufficient for imaging a human. In recent years, the development of automated radiosynthesizers that can produce a variety of different probes with minimal human intervention or radiation exposure has aimed to simplify routine synthesis of PET probes, especially for the clinic. As such, these synthesizers can be operated by technicians and do not require a highly trained radiochemist. Additionally, some automated systems can be configured to prepare different PET probes and thus also act as valuable tools for researchers developing new synthesis protocols for novel probes.
For example, the ELIXYS radiosynthesizer (Sofie Biosciences, Inc., Culver City, Calif.) is a disposable cassette-based, automated multi-reactor radiosynthesizer that is designed for both the development of new synthesis protocols as well as routine clinical and pre-clinical probe production. While synthesis operations for PET probes have been automated, once the probe has been produced, the final product that is injected into the subject often requires subsequent purification and formulation to remove or reduce exposure to potentially toxic organic solvents and chemical impurities. In some synthesis operations, the output of automated synthesizers is coupled to an entirely different purification system (e.g., high performance liquid chromatography HPLC) that is run by its own separate automated control system. After purification, formulation and concentration of the PET probe is performed manually using, for example, bulky rotary evaporation equipment. FIG. 1 illustrates a sequence of operations used to generate an injectable PET tracer according to the prior art. Thus, users had to employ multiple different types of systems to produce a final, injectable product. Not only is this expensive but it also means that users have to switch between different control systems for the various sub-systems, and the equipment takes up valuable space within the lead-shielded hot cell where the radiochemistry takes place. Different computers and control software are needed for each process making the overall automation process more complicated and expensive.